Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, released the following statement on Liberals neglecting screening gaps in their weak National Security Strategy:
“Today, the Liberal government released its extremely weak National Security Strategy. It is completely silent on one of Canada’s biggest security concerns: proven gaps in security screening for non-citizens seeking to enter Canada. This is a massive problem as Prime Minister Mark Carney has recently signalled he would increase immigration levels.
“Liberal immigration levels keep outpacing the government’s ability to properly screen people entering the country. The data proves this fact. CSIS screening requests of non-citizens seeking to enter Canada jumped to a record 538,000 in 2024. The CBSA’s screening inventory has ballooned to about 195,000 cases, and permanent residence files referred for full screening are projected to take years to clear.
“The Ahmed Eldidi case proves just how broken the system is. He entered Canada in 2018, passed multiple security screenings and became a citizen in May 2024. Two months later, he was charged with ISIS terrorism offences tied to a 2015 video that had been online for years. If our screening system can’t catch a publicly posted terrorist video, Canadians deserve to know why.
“Fraudulent letters of acceptance, employment documents and other supporting materials have been widespread in applications made by non-citizens seeking to enter Canada on various types of permits. This was reinforced earlier this year when the Auditor General found major gaps in the government’s ability to detect fraud in the foreign student visa permit system.
“And the Canadian Border Services Agency’s so-called ‘one touch’ process for asylum claimants has drawn concerns from border officers that it limits early opportunities to probe stories and flag security risks before people are admitted.
“Even when the system flags someone, it rarely follows through. Public CBSA data shows that removals purely on national-security grounds remain extremely rare. In recent years, security-grounds cases have made up just a tiny fraction of completed removals, and the agency’s published inventories consistently list only a few dozen people in the security category at a time. Despite the volume of screening referrals and the number of cases that raise national-security concerns, the conversion rate from identification to actual removal continues to be very low.
“Right now, the Liberals don’t even know who has left Canada and who is still here. For example, of the 39,500 international students required to leave in 2024, the CBSA could confirm only about 16,000 had left. CBSA officials told Parliament they have no automated way to flag visa overstays, and roughly 33,000 people are on the CBSA’s wanted list after failing to show up for removal.
“Worse, the system may be flagging innocent people. For example, the Persian community wants clear, public criteria that distinguish forced IRGC conscripts from senior officials and terrorist leaders.
“Despite Canada’s security system already proving that it cannot screen the people who have been coming into the country, the Liberals are planning to increase the levels of immigration into Canada. That’s not right.
“The National Security Strategy needs real, measurable reforms for screening non-citizens seeking to enter Canada. It must screen people properly before they arrive, know when they leave and reduce overall immigration levels so effective change can be made.”